Insomnia
by overtlycovert
Summary: It is past 3AM and Chiaki found himself unable to sleep. Hold on, are those footsteps I hear in the kitchen? Nodame/Chiaki.


_DISCLAIMER:_ Nodame Cantabile is not mine. And never will be. *whimpers*

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Chiaki Shinichi tossed and turned on his bed. It was already well past 3AM; and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't drift off to slumber land.

This wasn't the first time that he found himself unable to do so, of course. But during those times, the causes were pretty much valid, just like when he was chosen to conduct an orchestra in a concerto wherein the queen and other notable guests were part of the audience. These days, though, he couldn't really think of something that was capable of keeping him up at that hour.

Herolled to his side for the nth time and was about to pull his blanket closer to him when he heard a noise. Startled, he instinctively sat up and listened; the sound of the air conditioner whizzing above was all he heard. He kept his ears open for a little longer, but heard nothing out of the ordinary.

"That's odd. I thought heard something," he mused.

He shrugged, and was about to lie back down when the noise he heard earlier came again. Louder, this time. He was certain. They were footsteps. And they seemed to be coming from the kitchen.

Chiaki hurriedly got to his feet and took a baseball bat which he hid under his bed. There had been a series of robberies in the neighborhood lately, and for him, one can never be too careful. He slowly opened the door and peeked through. There was no one in the hallway.

Not letting his guard down, he took small, light steps and made his way to the kitchen. The noise grew louder at every step he took. His heart raced as he got closer and closer to the source of the racket.

When he was just a step away from the entrance, he raised the bat he held, ready to knock the jerk that chose to rob him out of consciousness. He swallowed hard. This was it. 3, 2, 1…

Chiaki jumped and admonished the alleged robber. However, there was no response. The room was empty. Perplexed, he decided to check the place thoroughly. But it seemed that he really was alone in his apartment; that is, until he heard the footsteps again. It was now coming from the living room.

He hurriedly got to his feet and walked towards the source. _You're not getting away this time._

His doubts were confirmed when he got there, as in the darkness, he could make out a figure leaning on the wall at the far end on the room. He instantly felt relieved that he wasn't just imagining things. Fumbling for the light switch, he braced himself for the encounter he was about to get into.

_CLICK!_

Light filled the room in an instant.

"I got you no-…Nodame?"

The person in front of him was definitely no robber. It was Nodame, his next door neighbor, who was clad in a purple nightgown. She was leaning against the wall rather suggestively, and had an oddly fierce look in her eyes.

"What on earth are you doing here? It's 3 in the morning, for heaven's sake!" Chiaki asked, annoyed.

Nodame didn't answer. Instead, she began to walk closer to him.

"Well?" he asked again.

"Isn't your wife allowed to visit you?" she finally answered. She was slowly making her way across the room, making Chiaki take a few steps back.

"How many times do I need to tell you? We are not a married couple!" he retorted, still backing away from the fast approaching woman. "And no, its perfectly fine to visit…but not at 3 AM!" he added.

Chiaki's back soon hit the wall. He was now on the hallway, and was a little more than freaked out about Nodame's actions. He looked at the person in question, who was barely a meter away. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different about her. Maybe it was that burning look in her eyes. Or perhaps the way her nightgown highlighted her until then unnoticed contours.

His thoughts were quickly cut off, though, when Nodame grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall. "No-nodame! What are you doi-"

Chiaki wasn't able to finish his sentence, as Nodame quickly pressed her lips against his. His eyes initially widened in shock, but they closed themselves as the kiss grew deeper. His arms found their way on her waist, and hers found a place on the back of his neck. The scene lasted for what seemed like an eternity, until the two decided it was time to pull back for some air.

All of a sudden, Chiaki felt happy. Inexplicably happy. The last time he felt like that was when he won his first competition. And that was ages ago. He looked down at Nodame, whose partly open lips seemed so inviting. He was about to lean in for another kiss, when the sound of a piano playing stopped him.

_Th-that's sonata no. 2 by Robert Schumann...in G minor..._

Chiaki opened his eyes and abruptly got up. He found himself back in his room, the sunlight penetrating though the window blinds. He looked at the alarm clock lying on his bedside table. It read 7:38.

He laughed to himself. It was a dream, just a product of his imagination. His amusement was short-lived, though, as he realized that Schumann's piece was still playing in the background. "Nodame?"

Panicked, the aspiring conductor sprinted towards his living room. And his suspicions were right on the mark. She seemed to notice his presence right away, as she stopped playing and spun her head around, lips still pouting. "Chiaki-senpai? You're awake already."

Chiaki found himself staring at her. Her pouting lips were awfully tempting. _Darn, what are you thinking? Control yourself_! , he mentally scolded himself.

"What are you doing here? It's still too early for breakfast."

"Nodame wanted to give you something. You said that you've been having trouble sleeping these days, so I decided to give you Mina-chan to help you do so," she said, gesturing to a stuffed bear she placed on the sofa.

Chiaki first walked over to the bear and read the note attached to it. Then he walked over to the piano. Nodame braced herself; but much to her surprise, Chiaki was actually smiling, albeit weakly. "That's very thoughtful of you." She felt like she was on top of the world. "But that doesn't mean that you can just barge in my apartment whenever you feel like it." Well, almost on top of the world. He hasn't thrown her out yet, so that's a good sign.

He was acting rather strange, though, so she decided to place a hand on his forehead to check his temperature- and got too close for comfort. "Gyabooooooo!" was all she could utter after being shoved towards the door.

Back inside, Chiaki found himself rereading the contents of the post-it that Nodame had attached to the bear.

_Chiaki-senpai,_

_I'd like you to meet Mina-chan! __Whenever I can't sleep, all I needed to do was hold onto to him- and I'd find myself in dream land in no time at all! I'm sure you two would get along just great._

_See you at dinner! _

_With love from your wife,_

_Nodame _

He smiled once more as he folded it and placed it in a drawer, along with the others that he had been safekeeping.

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_I__ recently got obsessed with Nodame Cantabile, and without warning, a plotbunny just came into my head and begged me to write it. And here, my friends, is that pesky bunny. I haven't watched the Paris-hen eps yet, so the details and my characterization here may be inaccurate. _

_So, what do you think? Please let me know, through that little box down there with the green font. Right, there you go. Now click!_

_ADIEU AND THANKS FOR READING!_


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